Building a versatile understanding of algebraic variables with a graphic calculator

Algebra has been recognised for some time as a difficult topic for many secondary school students. Discovering the best way(s) of introducing algebra into the students' experience and fostering understanding has stimulated much discussion and research. It is our belief that an understanding of the concept of variable is fundamental to further student progress in algebra. This paper describes a study using a module of work based on a graphic calculator which provided an environment where students could experience some aspects of variables and hence begin to build an understanding of them. The graphic calculator proved to be an instrument for achieving a significant improvement in student understanding, something which has often proved difficult previously.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stemming the Tide of Rising School Exclusions: Problems and Possibilities

This paper argues that the New Labour government' school effectiveness/target-setting strategy for reducing school exclusions is a flawed one. It deflects blame on to individual schools for problems which have as their source more deep-seated changes both in educational policy and in the wider society. A more positive way forward is to learn lessons from the recent research literature addressing the causes of the increase in school exclusions.     

Institutional learning and teaching strategies in English higher education

In 1998 the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)commissioned a survey of the extent to which institutional learning andteaching strategies were being used in English higher education. Thesurvey was seen by HEFCE as a necessary precursor to the enactment ofits policy decision to allocate a component of institutional funding onthe basis of the possession of (and subsequent activation of) aninstitutional learning and teaching strategy. Responses from 116institutions showed considerable variation in the extent to which theyhad developed a strategic approach to learning and teaching.Over the coming years there is likely to be a marked increase in thelevel and sophistication of strategic planning to develop learning andteaching across whole institutions. The article concludes by drawingupon the organisational development literature to suggest some ways inwhich this shift might be facilitated.     

知识共享——东南亚国家的图书馆联机装置

<正> 情报资料对国家的发展来说是非常重要的,但是近几年情报资料的成倍增长,已超过了个人和机构驾驭它的能力,如何用系统的方法获得情报资料这种财富,使它适用于增加知识、指导研究,而制定政策就成为八十年代最紧迫的一个问题.图书馆在传统上是知识的贮存所.几世纪以来,图书馆员追求一种不可及的目标,即单个图书馆收集为他们的国家或机构的研究和情报资料的收藏所需要的一切资源.人们的这种奢望已经成了不可能实现的梦想.倘若图书馆想要继续满足他们用户的需要,那末增进合作与资源共享就成为必不可少的了.     

Disciplinary and Contextually Appropriate Approaches to Leadership of Teaching in Research‐Intensive Academic Departments in Higher Education

This paper reports aspects of an international study of leadership of teaching in 19 departments with outstanding teaching records in 11 research‐intensive universities. Leadership was found to take different forms in different discipline areas, in different organisational cultures, and in response to major problems affecting the department. While most of the heads conceived of leadership of teaching in similarly sophisticated ways, and there were other common themes across contexts, how these conceptions were evident in action to support and develop teaching was highly context‐dependent. To illustrate this point, two departments are contrasted in terms of leadership activities found most frequently across all 19 departments. It is clear from this comparison that teaching excellence was achieved in entirely different ways involving widely contrasting leadership behaviour. The paper argues that advice and guidance for heads of department on their leadership of teaching should pay careful attention to the context rather than make assumptions about the general applicability of leadership theory or advice.